Unknown Mortal Orchestra Frontman Criticized for Caitlyn Jenner Joke

Unknown Mortal Orchestra's Ruban Nielson made what some are calling a transphobic joke about Caitlyn Jenner, which the band's frontman says was a response to the reality star's stance in supporting Ted Cruz.

Late on Thursday night, Nielson wrote the following message on Twitter, calling Caitlyn by her former name and seemingly poking fun at her:

The singer appeared to encounter some backlash, writing follow-up messages including: "Im sorry to all the cool people who are offended by my republican joke" and "relax, Caitlyn don't give a fuck about the LGBT community."

Nielson continued to say that the joke came as a response to Jenner's recent endorsement of Ted Cruz, who is known for controversial stances on LGBTQ people, including trans people.

"I was mad that she sold out the community that fostered her," he continued, before later apologizing. The singer uploaded his statement to NME, given via a direct message on Twitter, for his followers to read that explains his sentiment alongside an apology:

Nielson ended the controversial Twitter spree by saying, "Im not transphobic just stupid," and that he's "gonna go to the Dominican Republic for the weekend and meditate on what happened here."

Interested to learn more about the transgender community yourself? You can watch full episodes of Fuse's GLAAD-nominated hit series Transcendentthat follows the lives of five transgender performers in San Francisco.